The Passiflora 'Purple Haze' is a truly captivating climbing plant, often affectionately known to English speakers as a type of Passion Flower. These three specimens, currently standing around 65cm tall, are poised to transform a sunny spot in your garden or on your patio.

This vigorous, twining climber is admired for its exotic, elaborate blooms. The flowers are typically a striking combination, featuring prominent purple coronal filaments which create a wonderful 'haze' of colour over bowl-shaped petals that are often white or pale. The flowers themselves have a light and pleasant scent, adding to its tropical appeal.

Flowering and Foliage

You can expect the gorgeous flowers in the Passion Flower from June to September. It's a real fair-weather bloomer; on warm days with lots of light and sun, the buds will pop open beautifully, while on colder and darker days, fewer flowers will appear. The plant originally hails from Central and Western South America, and growing it is a fantastic way to create a tropical atmosphere right in your own garden.

The foliage is lobed, glossy, and a rich, dark green. In milder UK climates, this plant is generally semi-evergreen, meaning it retains some or most of its leaves through winter, though it may become deciduous (lose all its leaves) in colder, harsher conditions. It's a remarkably fast-growing plant that, once established, can reach an impressive height of up to 7 metres (about 23 feet) or more. As a real climber, it will definitely appreciate some support when growing on a climbing frame, trellis, or fence. Happily, the plant does not have spines but climbs using tendrils that twine around supports.

Care and Maintenance

Caring for your 'Purple Haze' is relatively straightforward. It thrives best in a sheltered location that receives full sun to partial shade, as this encourages the most abundant flowering. It's important to provide a moist, but well-drained soil—it does not like to sit in waterlogged conditions. When it comes to irrigation, water moderately, ensuring the soil is kept consistently moist during the main growing and flowering season, particularly if it's in a container. It's generally a tough plant, and you should prune in spring to remove any dead or overcrowded stems and to maintain its vigour.

Note: The fruits that follow the flowers are typically a decorative, yellow-orange colour, but they are generally considered harmful if eaten, particularly when unripe. It is always safest to assume that the fruits of ornamental passion flowers are toxic and should not be consumed.